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Former Liiga player harshly criticizes Juraj Slafkovsky

The subject of most attention around the Montreal Canadiens at the moment is the very, very ordinary, not to say abysmal, performance of Juraj Slafkovsky.

Sadly, the first overall pick in the 2022 auction isn’t off to the expected start.

In 10 games, he has just one meagre assist, obtained in the season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Since then, despite a few encouraging performances, Slaf has shown nothing special; on the contrary, he often seems to be outmatched by the NHL level.

Yet things seemed so encouraging when he was playing with Kirby Dach.

The loss of Dach really affected Slafkovsky’s game.

In short, even if the big Slovak’s career is still in its infancy, many questions and doubts are emerging about his selection for the first rank.

All the more so after seeing Logan Cooley (selected 3ᵉ in the same auction) perform like this in his first season in Arizona.

He has eight points, including a goal, in ten games.

That’s only three points less than Slafkovsky’s 11 career points in 49 games.

It’s easy to see why criticism of the CH’s No. 20 is flying everywhere these days.

In fact, one of Slaf’s former opponents in the Liiga (Finland’s premier league) is now openly criticizing Slafkovsky’s performance on social networks.

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In fact, as you can read above, Jordan Schmaltz, who played 42 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues, took the time to criticize Slafkovsky rather strongly when responding to a tweet about the video surrounding the Slovakian’s selection.

Schmaltz, who played against Slaf in Liiga during the 2021-2022 season, basically explains that Slafkovsky doesn’t understand time and space and seems disconnected on the ice.

His brain doesn’t keep up with his big frame, which means he has a very linear vision.

Schmaltz explains that the strong opinion he formed of Slaf when he faced him in Liiga was confirmed when he watched the CH’s game against the Arizona Coyotes.

For him, it’s clear that a stint in the jungle (in the AHL) is necessary, and without a schedule.

Let him play down there and develop.

In short, these are very direct words from former NHL player Jordan Schmaltz.

And when you think about it, he’s not really wrong.

Slafkovsky’s merely very good performance at the Olympics wasn’t enough to justify his selection at No. 1.

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In short, it now remains to be seen what the Tricolore will do with the big Slovak in order to get him back on track, whether that means a move to the AHL or not.

NHL options are limited for Slaf, however, given that the third trio rolls well, and he doesn’t really deserve to play on the first trio.

According to Antoine Roussel, it’s Alex Newhook who’s hurting Slaf and also Anderson, since he’s not winning his face-offs.

Could putting Monahan in the middle of Slafkovsky and Anderson work?

To be continued with the imminent return of Christian Dvorak.

In Rafale

– Read on.

– The Senators are on the move.

– All the better.

– All the way to Australia? Wow.

– File to follow.